Worth Saving
by ZhurrickTea
Summary: Varrick has been emprisoned by Kuvira after his failed escape with Bolin and Zhu Li. Fortunately, his assistant is there to bust him out. Set directly after "Enemy at the Gates".


Crashing through the metal roof of the laboratory in which they had locked up Varrick, a huge metallic hand came grabbing him right by the back of his shirt. He had barely had time to realize what was happening and begun struggling against the machine when he was dropped from its grasp and fell clumsily through an opening. The opening to the cabin of a mechatank, he noted. A mechatank controlled by...  
>"Zhu Li?!"<br>He tried to put decent distance between them when he noticed he was pretty much sitting on her lap, although his limbs were as tangled as noodles. The cabin was so small that he could do no such thing, though, and he coughed to hide his embarrassment.  
>"Zhu Li, what's happening?"<br>"There's a battle. Everyone is out fighting, even your guards, so I'm busting you out."

"You… you are? What about Kuvira?"

"I believe she's leading the battle."

The mechatank was running as they talked, though in his position, Varrick could not see where it was going.

"That wasn't what I meant! I thought you were following her now!"

She rolled her eyes and sighed.

"Aren't you? What… I don't… Did you _lie_?!"

She wouldn't meet his eyes and seemed to try to focus on her manoeuvring the machine. As far as he could tell, they weren't fighting, just running away.

"I'm not on Kuvira's side," she said softly and his heart dropped.

He felt relieved, happy, surprised and perplex at the same time.

"You're not…"

"I'm on my own side now."

She looked at him straight in the eyes and he felt that they met for the first time when he saw more emotion in her gaze than in a lifetime.

"You can be on my side if you want," she said, "but you'll follow my rules."

He gulped and nodded. Somehow, it seemed like a bad idea to disagree with the pilot of a mechatank. She looked about to add something but a loud crack stopped her. Something shook them all of a sudden and she had to focus. Varrick had no idea what was happening. He was still trying to understand the fact that Zhu Li had come to his rescue, that she didn't hate him after all. To let her access all the levers and buttons, he had to be really close to her as this was a one-person mechatank, and he had no idea what to feel. He knew staring at Zhu Li was silly but he couldn't help himself watch her face as she fought the attacker off. Soon the battle was over and he guessed that Zhu Li had won.

"What was that?"

"A tank."

Of course, only the idea of making up with Zhu Li in and of itself was all he needed, but knowing that she had just beat a tank on her own made him pray for whatever spirit might listen to never get on her bad side again.

"Where are we going?"

"Away," she answered, never looking away from the road, which only she could see. "To safety."

He thought to ask where that was, but didn't. Might as well trust her.

"I want to get on your side, Zhu Li."

"You have to promise it won't be like before."

"Tell me the rules."

"The first rule is you have to say _please_ and _thank you_ every single time you ask something. I can be your assistant but I deserve recognition."

His heart cringed with guilt when he thought of his earlier actions with her. He never knew she was so frustrated before she let it all out and he had been so convinced she had left him for good that he would do anything, anything at all to get her back.

"Of course!"

"Sometimes I make mistakes. I'm not perfect, Varrick, I'm human. Deal with it."

"I… of course you're human, Zhu Li. I knew that."

"I'm not a cold heartless war machine."

He tried to say something but all that came out was mumbling.

"I can't do everything. I try to be as good as I can but sometimes, I fail, and you can't be angry with me for failing to save you when there are _three mechatanks and your incompetence against me_."

"Oh come on, I wasn't that bad!"

He knew instantly it was a mistake when her eyes glared at him with a violence he had rarely seen before.

"_Yes, you were_. You can't treat me like that, Varrick. You just can't. Not when I've saved your life more times than you can even remember, most notably ten minutes ago!"

As hard as it was to shrink away and keep a low profile when he was literally flush against her, he managed to at least look down in shame.

"You're right. I'm sorry."

"Good."

"Is there something else?"

She threw him a look and he could not decipher what she might feel. If he were her, he would probably be furious. He did not deserve her, that was plain. She seemed to suddenly think about something and smirked at it. He almost never got to see her smile and it warmed his heart at least a little.

"I hate green tea," she finally said after a few moments.

"What?"

"I hate green tea. You always ask for green tea but sometimes I'd like to choose what tea we drink."

"You don't like green tea? How is that even possible?"

"I just don't. Rule number three is I get to choose what tea I should make for us half of the time."

"I can't believe you don't like green tea. It's my favourite!"

"Do you agree with the rule or not? I can always drop you back on the ground. We've barely left the battlefield, I'm _sure_ someone will know what to do with you."

He gulped and nodded, and she frowned for a second when his hair accidentally hit her face. That cabin was really too small.

"Speaking about battles, I don't want you to start wars anymore."

"I wasn't planning to."

"Good. Don't."

"I've had enough fighting for a lifetime with Kuvira."

"I thought so."

It seemed very awkward to discuss pacifism while in a war machine.

She opened her mouth, closed it, saying nothing.

"Thank you for busting me out, by the way."

"I'm your _assistant_. You couldn't go anywhere without me."

"I don't _want_ to go anywhere without you, Zhu Li."

Her eyes softened and the mechatank finally came to a stop as she looked right at him.

"I want change, you know."

"I know."

"I have the right to have my own ideas, opinions, failures and feelings. You might not always agree with me or feel the same, but you have to respect me."

"I'm so sorry, Zhu Li…"

They shared a look. He could still sense her anger, but softness had dampened it and he sensed she might just forgive him at some point if he was lucky.

"I mean it, really."

"I hope you do," she said full of sadness.

"This is really important, isn't it?"

She looked away and nodded, suddenly shy.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, Zhu Li, but I think you _like _me despite all that."

She did not answer and he was heartbroken when a tear ran down her cheek. Followed by another. Quickly, he had to do something, anything, and he tried to hug her as much as he could in the tiny space. Soon she was sobbing against his shoulder and hugging him even closer. He rubbed her back, whispering apologies in her ear.

"I… I just couldn't take it anymore," she whimpered. "And she was going to take me away and you were going to be prisoner, I couldn't bear that either…"

"Shh, it's okay now…"

"I can't live like this anymore, Varrick."

"You won't have to. I'm going to spend the rest of my life making it up to you."

She hiccuped and took a big breath, trying to stop crying, but the tears were still coming.

"I really thought… when you saved me in the train, I thought you'd…"

His heart tightened.

"I wish I did."

She pulled away as best as she could. Their faces were still merely inches away. Her eyes were still wet and red, but he seemed to notice for the first time how beautiful they were. Disentangling an arm from the mess that was his hug, he brought a hand to her cheek to wipe the tears away. One finger brushed her lips and her eyes widened. He gave her a smile that was supposed to be reassuring, and she almost smiled back before closing the distance between them.

Her lips still tasted of tears when they touched his and he made the internal promise to never make her cry again. She was hesitant, almost timid, but melted into him when he hugged her closer. Maybe she had been afraid he wouldn't kiss her back. She was soft and sweet, full of a tenderness he wished he had seen before. When she pulled away, she had the most gentle look in her eyes. She looked so beautiful he had to kiss her once again. She gasped against his lips in surprise, but her hands found their way into his hair to keep him close. When they broke away to breathe, they share the first real look of their lives, the first real stare that betrayed their feelings, both love and resentment, love and shame.

"I love you, Zhu Li."

A tear threatened to fall again but his finger caught it before it ran down her face. She took a big breath and let out a nervous laugh before letting go of his head to take back the levers into her hands.

"I love you too, so let me save our lives."

The only thing left to do was cuddle flush against her in their tiny cabin while she led the mechatank to their safety and future.


End file.
